Paint's not going to do it. With those exposed hinges, that's a reface job.

I appreciate it, but refacing is not in the budget. I have no intention of moving, and thus resale value is not of concern. The hinges really don't bother me: they're clean, operate well and nearly pristine condition. It's the chipped paint that's driving me nuts. Since I've painted cabs before, I'm relatively confident it's something I can do well, if not enjoyably :D

Take a look at the green cabs on the kitchen site, I think they would look super on the bottom and a creamy on the top.paints

Not adverse to more color at all, those green cabs are lovely - I did just redid laundry room in this aqua, was thinking maybe mint or darker aqua for the bottoms.

What colors are your favorite that make your heart sing?

Here's a site that has all the colors. I like the color above for your laundry room but I think it's a bit too much color for a kitchen. I love the look of a soft color on the bottom cabs and creamy on top. Then you can have bolder accents in towels etc. Here's a site to check the colors. Inspiration I like misty harbor in the green and blue colors.

I painted my soffits the same color as the cabinets for the same reason, lower ceilings. I like the look. I personally wouldn't remove the soffits. It just collects dirt on top of the cabinets with the soffits removed. You have a nice backdrop to start with. I think once you add a little color to the kitchen in a few accessories the kitchen will not feel so boring. I think if you paint the cabinets gray it will be too much gray going on in the kitchen. I would keep them white. I used SW pro classic on my cabinets and I keep a small jar of my cabinet paint and a small brush in one of my cabinets. I am not delicate when using my kitchen so if I get a paint chip I just touch it up. With the SW pro classic you never know it has been touched up. It is really a nice paint to work with. I like the relief carving in the cabinets. It is nice to see something different than the overdone shaker cabinets.

I like the relief carvings too! They're interesting, yet still very clean-lined and not at all busy. The ridges in the knobs also echo the relief nicely.

I'm not sure you could call the relief dated because I've literally never seen anything like that before. That means it's not trendy, but you also can't pin it to any unfashionable decade.